U.S. analysts have been surprised repeatedly by China’s speed in
developing sophisticated new weapons, partly because of Beijing’s
secrecy and misinformation, according to a study published Thursday.

Other factors include an outdated view of China’s defense industries
and a failure to pay enough attention to academic and technical
publications written in Chinese, says the study, written by staff of
the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

“The [People´s Republic of China, PRC] exercises secrecy over many
aspects of its military affairs, and in some instances puts forth
false or misleading information,” the study notes.

“U.S. observers should not take at face value statements from the
Chinese government on military policy,” it says. Such statements
could be deliberately “deceptive, or simply issued by agencies” such
as the foreign ministry “that have no real say over military matters.”

The report, based on public information, looks at the development of
four sophisticated Chinese weapons systems: the Jian-20 stealth jet
fighter, the Yuan-class attack submarine, a satellite-killer called
the SC-19 and the Dongfeng-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM).

When the Jian-20 was unveiled with a dramatic public test flight in
January 2011, U.S. intelligence officials and private-sector China
specialists appeared surprised, the report says.

Just 15 months earlier, then-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said
China would need a decade to develop jet fighters in the same class
as the United States’ F-22 and F-35.

After the first public test flight of the Jian-20, Mr. Gates had to
admit that Beijing “may be somewhat further ahead in the development
of the aircraft than our intelligence had earlier indicated.”

U.S. intelligence has known at least since 2004 that China was
developing a land-based ship-killer ballistic missile. That year, a
Chinese military publication described the planned Dongfeng-21D as
an “assassin’s mace” for use against U.S. aircraft carriers.

However, it seems that China was able to field the missile much more
quickly than expected.

The United States “has been pretty consistent in underestimating the
delivery … of Chinese technology, weapon systems. They’ve entered
operational capability quicker than expected,” said Vice Adm. David
J. Dorsett, head of U.S. Navy intelligence from 2008-11, according to
the report.

There are no “universal trends” in the cases studied. But the report
says that with the ASBM and the stealth fighter, there
were “identifiable miscalculation* regarding U.S. assessments on the
development speed of Chinese indigenous weapons systems.”

“Why were these surprises?” asked commission member Larry M.
Wortzel. “One must ask whether there is any inherent bias in the
analysis, leading our personnel to underestimate China’s capabilities
to field and develop” high-technology new weapons systems.

The report suggests that many U.S. analysts were stuck in outdated
and inaccurate thinking about Beijing.

“It is clear that much of the conventional wisdom about China dating
from the turn of the century has proven to be dramatically wrong,” it
says.

One reason might be the degree to which China’s commercial and
military cyberespionage has aided their research and development
capability.